Artist Don Quade created Jardin de Oportuniadades (Garden of Opportunity) for the gala's auction. His wife, Grace, is pictured with him. Photo by Steve Peterson, Special to The Denver Post

Whether a college education is a right or a privilege can be argued ’til the cows come home, but in the end, one thing’s for sure: They’re expensive.

And it doesn’t pay not to have one.

Since its start in 1949, the Latin American Educational Foundation has awarded college scholarships to 5,400 students from low-income families throughout Colorado, and much of the money for those grants is raised at a gala dinner held every year in Denver. The event usually has headline entertainment — this year, the Grammy-winning musical group Ozomatli and “Mom comic” Debi Gutierrez — plus silent and live auctions and the presentation of the Sol Trujillo National Lifetime Leadership Award.

OK, so maybe there’s no such thing as a free lunch. But a free concert? You betcha.
Actor Gary Sinise (“Forrest Gump,” “CSI NY”) brought his Lt. Dan Band to Denver on Saturday night to headline a concert in Civic Center Park. He shared the Greek Amphitheater stage with local favorite Opie Gone Bad, whose frontman, Jake Shroeder, invited 9News entertainment reporter Kirk Montgomery, no slouch in the vocals department, to reprise a couple of the numbers he had performed with the band at Red Rocks earlier this summer.
And, had it not been for Montgomery, “Saturday Night Alive” alum Victoria Jackson might have been escorted from the premises by the event’s security detail. In town for a Comedy Works gig, Jackson was walking near the park with promoter Mel Gibson when Montgomery spotted her and said she should come on over for the concert. When he told her that her pal Sinise was headlining, she got so excited that she rushed into the pre-concert VIP party to look for him. Her enthusiasm, needless to say, caught security’s attention, but Montgomery quickly vouched for her and all was well.
Sinise, in fact, was more than generous with his time that night. Before performing for an hour, he mixed and mingled with the 200 VIPs that had been invited to enjoy a cool beverage and bite to eat before the show.
Chairman Dean Prina, fresh from a vacation trip to China, joined Civic Center Conservancy executive director Lindy Eichenbaum Lent and board president Chris Frampton in welcoming a group that included the CCC’s founding president, Elaine Asarch, and her husband, Dr. Richard Asarch; Mayor John Hickenlooper with son, Teddy; state Sen. Chris Romer and wife, Laurie; City Council president Jeanne Robb; city council members Peggy Lehmann and Doug Linkhart; City Auditor Dennis Gallagher with Dutchess Scheitler; City Librarian Shirley Amore and husband, John; and Elaine Mariner, executive director of Colorado Council on the Arts.
Frampton’s wife, Yvette Pita Frampton, was there, too, along with such CCC board members as Sunny Brownstein, Ruth Falkenberg, Dennis Humphries, Brian Stein, Marcus Pachner and Susan Kirk, and ex officio board members Bridget Fisher and Mark Bernstein.Kelly Brough, who is stepping down as Hickenlooper’s chief of staff to head the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, was there, too, along with Children’s Museum president Tom Downey and his wife, Lori Fox, a member of the Denver Commission of Cultural Affairs; lobbyist Maria Garcia Berry; Colorado Business Committee for the Arts head Deborah Jordy and her husband, University of Denver professor Jonathan Adelman; Cydney and Tom Marsico; Patricia Barela Rivera; Arlene and Barry Hirschfeld; J Madden and Linda Poletti; and Jose Mercado, an actor, drama professor (CU-Denver) and founder of the nonprofit Labyrinth Arts Academy that is having a benefit food and tequila tasting Aug. 19 at the historic D&F Clocktower.
Other familiar faces in the crowd: Susan and Howard Noble; Betsy Mordecai; Mickey Ackerman; Michelle and John Hanley; Cindy, Steve and Drennen Schulz; Hanna and Mark Shaner; Caz Matthews and Jeff Rouse; Susan and Steve Hagar; Maureen Brooks, whose Brooks, Intl. booked Sinise and his band; and CBS 4 medical editor Dr. Dave Hnida, who emceed the show.
The Civic Center Conservancy was formed in 2004 to restore and enhance one of Denver’s neglected treasures, the 16-acre Civic Center Park. The transformation will take time, Asarch noted. “We’re moving in baby steps,” she said, “but that’s good because everything is being well thought out. Look at Central Park, Battery Park in New York. Their transformations were spectacular, but they took 10 or 12 years to accomplish.”

Harry T. Lewis Jr. grew up in Denver’s Park Hill neighborhood, earned an MBA from Dartmouth, served as a leader in the investment world and spearheaded numerous projects that addressed Denver’s growth, planning and future development.
On Nov. 1, Colorado Bright Beginnings honored him for these contributions and more at a dinner held in the Donald R. Seawell Grand Ballroom.
“Harry truly understands the value of early childhood development and the
importance of providing parents with support and encouragement to shape
their children’s lives,” observes Kyle Seedorf, vice chair of the Bright Beginnings board. “We are honored that he is helping us get the message out about the power parents have to influence their children’s
future.”
Founded by then-Gov. Roy Romer and the late Brad Butler, a retired chief executive for Procter & Gamble, the nonprofit organization provides Colorado parents with guidance, knowledge and tools to create a bright beginning for their children during the critical first three years of life.
Lewis began his professional life as a certified public accountant with what was then known as Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co. Later, he became a
general partner and executive committee member at Boettcher & Co., and a senior vice president/Rocky Mountain Region for Dain Bosworth, Inc.
before starting his own firm, Lewis Investments.
Lewis, who is widowed, has had numerous leadership positions with such groups as the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce; Downtown Denver, Inc.; the Regional Transportation District; Denver Museum of Nature and Science; and and the Stapleton Redevelopment Foundation.
Lewis also served in the U.S. Navy during World War II.
“You Are the Sunshine of My Life” was the dinner’s theme, and guests included George and Karyn Sparks (he chairs the Bright Beginnings board and is the chief executive at Denver Museum of Nature and Science); the 2006 honoree, Dr. Dean Prina; Brad Butler’s widow, Erna Butler, an honorary board member; and her daughter and son-in-law, Nancy and Tony Accetta. Nancy serves as secretary of the Bright Beginnings board.
Also in the crowd of 400: Caz Matthews, director of Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield’s WellPoint Foundation; former board chair Dr. Steve Berman and his wife, Elaine, a member of the State Board of Education; Terry Biddinger, director of external relations for the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center School of Nursing; Dan Ritchie, chancellor emeritus of the University of Denver and current leader of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts; Delta Dental of Colorado President Kate Paul; and Barry and Arlene Hirschfeld.
And, state Sen. Chris Romer; the superintendent of the Denver Public Schools, Michael Bennet; Denver City Council members Carol Boigon and Doug Linkhart; Megan Ferland, executive director of the Colorado Children’s Campaign; Elsa Holguin of the Rose Community Foundation; United Way chief Michael Durkin; George Beardsley; Gail Klapper; Trygve and Vicki Myhren; Anna Alejo of the Western Union Foundation; Schenkein co-owner Leanna Clark; 7News anchor Bertha Lynn; Colorado Symphony chairman Cy Harvey and his wife, Lyndia; Wells Fargo Bank senior vice president Pat Cortez; interior designer David Alexander; and Colorado & Co. co-host Mark McIntosh, the evening’s emcee.
Sponsors included Erna Butler, Wells Fargo, Denver Investment
Advisors, CH2MHill, the Piton Foundation, Martha Records and Rich
Rainaldi, Key Bank and the WellPoint Foundation
Bright Beginnings’ programs are free and are provided by 14
regional affiliates that reach all of Colorado’s 64 counties. In
2006, more than 12,000 families benefited from the organization’s work.
For more information about Colorado Bright Beginnings, call 303-433-6200
or visit brightbeginningsco.org.

Pictures taken at the Bright Beginnings gala can be viewed at denverpost.com/SeenGallery.

Denver Post Society Editor Joanne Davidson can be reached at 303-809-1314 or jdavidson@denverpost.com. Her column appears every Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.

Study after study has shown that when it comes to charitable fundraisers, Denver has more per capita than any comparably sized city in the nation. Joanne Davidson has been covering them for The Denver Post since 1985, coming here from her native California where she'd spent the previous seven years as San Francisco bureau chief for U.S. News & World Report magazine.